Children's Time
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up with quality worship material for children is an important (and
difficult) task in ministry. Children are not little adults, and should
not be approached as such. I agree with the school of thought which says
that the whole service of worship needs to provide entryways for children,
not just the "children's sermon." Saying it and doing it,
though, are very different animals. There is something to be said for
little ones observing adults in action, without having to tailor matters
to suit them. Unfortunately, in a media bloated environment, we don't have
the luxury of assuming that some day, when they're older, our children
will tune in to adult worship. By then, they may well have tuned out. I approach this task as one who grew up in a congregation that paid little attention to children in worship - at least as far as I can remember (and that is the key - they may have made the attempt, but it did not connect). I do not recall a single thing the pastor ever said or did. I do, however, remember some of the activities with which I occupied the time - from imagining tunneling a complex of missile systems from my pew to the steeple (an interesting recollection for a "peace church" pastor), to drawing an entire city of streets around the letters in the bulletin. I guess worship provided some creative moments. I also vividly remember being excluded once a month from bread and cup communion. "Let the children come to me," Jesus said. How we do this requires creativity on our part, and a multitude of answers - not a one-size-fits-all approach. One way I try to connect with them is through dramatic, away from the pulpit, first-person accounts. See this sermon, for instance, and imagine 15-20 children in their choir sitting in the front pews, which was the practice on Sundays when they sang. I did have their attention! I don't provide a special "children's time" every Sunday, though it's often three out of four Sundays a month. Other members of our congregation have a gift for children's stories and share with our younger ones in worship once or twice a month. The Bible character portrayals (above) have been quite effective throughout the year in capturing their (and their parent's and other adult's) imaginations. I also have incorporated some dramas. One of the most important elements of the Children's Time in worship, when they do happen, is the set-apart nature of those moments. It's is their time, even as it is God's time. I try not to underhandedly talk to the adults through the children (though how often has it been said that adults get more out of children's sermons sometimes than adult sermons?). Below is a growing index of Children's Times in Worship in the context of the services themselves. I do not include dramas or sermon portrayals of Bible characters here. Such will need to be discovered through my main sermon page. When I consciously borrow, I seek to note the source. Sometimes I borrow but adapt a great deal, such that the original idea was but a seed. You are free to borrow any of the ideas that might be original to me. We know, don't we, that "originality" has a truer source - "inspired" ideas are sparked by the creative God we worship. How do you credit this in a Bibliography? Check these resources out. Many are fabulous! |
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Thematic Index
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Acolyte (being one) |
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Advent |
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Advent Living Tree series |
"Fresh
from the David-Tree" |
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Anointing |
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Atonement |
"The Yardstick" © |
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Baptism |
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Camp Sunday |
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Christ the King |
"A King forever" © |
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Christmas |
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Confession |
"Coming
Clean" © ¥ |
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Crop Walk |
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Easter |
"Butterflies" (mp3) |
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Fathers' Day |
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Fear |
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God knows our hurt |
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God/Jesus as Good Shepherd |
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Grace, Amazing |
"I once was blind" € |
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Homecoming celebration |
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Mothers' Day |
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Pentecost |
"Ruach" © |
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Palms (Palm Sunday) |
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Peacemaking |
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Prayer |
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Prayer Chain Dedication |
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Repentance |
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Sabbath |
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Sept. 11, 2001 follow-up |
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Service dog in church |
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Sin |
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Stewardship of Time |
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Sunday School Dedication |
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Thanksgiving |
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Transfiguration |
"God
and a hot plate" |
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Trinity |
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Valetine's Day |
"Magic Glasses" (by Ed Lewis, an mp3) |
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Giving Warm Fuzzies |
"A Warm Fuzzy Tale" (by Claude M. Steiner) |
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Welcoming newcomers |
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Worship as a Drama |
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Other Children's Story web sites: |
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| Sermons 4 Kids | Talks to Children | plus many more |
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